France publishes free software procurement templates

Organisation

Agence du Patrimoine Immatériel de l’état

Short Description

The French government has published templates to be used by procurement officers when requesting free software-based ICT solutions. The templates include intellectual property clauses, and clarify the specifics of the free software environment. The «Model clauses for development and maintenance of free software» were made public at the 16th Recontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre conference.

The templates applies within the legal framework of The Cahier des Clauses Administratives Générales applicables aux marchés publics de Techniques de l’Information et de la Communication (CCAG-TIC) from the 15 September 2009 dealing with Intellectual Property rights in the public markets of IT software.

When issuing a call for tender, public administrations should emphasise that the software will be made available as free software.

The template set two options for the contracting authorities A: «concession» or B «cession». The public body select the most suitable option and adapt it to the specific software.

Companies submitting bids should allow the code to be published using a licence that is compatible with either France’s Cecill or the European Union’s EUPL free software licence. These are «copyleft » licenses are a novel use of existing copyright law to ensure a work remains freely available and that public investment will be profitable to everyone.